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Do you think IWM is trending upwards? (to me it looks like it's moving sideways) With IWN why would I have been stopped out? Where would you have put a stop and why there? Mine would have been under the last swing low. As long as my losses are small and under my risk criteria of 1% of my...

To each his own. If it works for you then why change. It didn't work for me because I couldn't stomach the drawdowns. My number one priority is capital preservation. My risk control is getting out of the market when it turns down.

There are no secret strategies. I'll share mine: Buy stocks that are trending upwards. Sell when the trend changes. Don't hold losers in your portfolio.

Woulda. Coulda, Shoulda. What stopped you from getting back in?

2 ways to get around the problem of the PDT rule; If you only want to trade stocks, swing trade. The only time you take a day trade is when your stop gets hit the same day as you open the trade. Trade futures, I don't know anything about them but apparently the mini's can be successfully traded...

What about your ETFs. When did you close them out?

I have the same story although not the same stocks. Nortel. Research in motion. The tech wreck was the reason I stopped being an investor and became a speculator. I started using stop losses. In reality they don't stop losses they guarantee them, but you get to control the size.

Then according to your thinking you are missing opportunity and losing money every day. Out of curiosity when did you close your positions and why? I believe that the reason for selling is just as important as the reason for buying.

You forgot No position at this time. I can understand that; It's hard to average down when the market keeps going up.

2% is 2% ignore it if you'd like. The other difference is the time the markets are open to trade.

Yet you aren't holding any positions at this time. Strange!!

Is your ROTH with a zero commission broker? Years ago I found it less expensive to trade leveraged ETFs rather than futures. Was trading with IB at the time. penny a share commission on ETFs and a couple bucks each way for futures.

So how much money did you lose today by missing opportunies in the market taday?

You're kidding!! LOL Why not? Look at all the opportunity you are missing as this bull stumbles on.

Nobody lies to themselves more than a trader underwater. :)

No they won't. That's the reason there are table limits.

True there is no magic. It's one way to control your risk. When your income comes from trading I prefer to have as much control as possible. I can only control what I do, I have no control over the market.

But there are so many opportunities out there. They only look good in hindsight. You said earlier that you could have had the same returns as Ryan if you had done this or that. Do you consider that money lost? It was an opportunity that you didn't take advantage of.

That may be true. But I don't have to live thru the drawdowns and I have cash on hand to employ if another opportunity presents itself.

That's FOMO. You'd be surprised how many ten baggers I've left on the table. I look at it as opportunity lost and I can afford to lose opportunity. Money not so much.